ur mentor and model in this endeavor, Benjamin Franklin himself, was of two minds when it came to money matters. The man who said, "Get what you can and what you get, hold; 'tis that which will turn your lead into gold," also said, "Wealth that is not spent is wasted." Similarly, Franklin said, "Laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes it," and later said, "Haste makes waste."

But rather than diagnose the great man with schizophrenia, let us instead concede that when it comes to money, a middle road is best.